In The News

Ferdinand Marcos is proclaimed president of the Philippines for six more years by the National Assembly moments after ever opposition legislator walked out in protest. The government’s final, but contested count of an election marred by fraud, violence and manipulation gave Marcos 10,807,197 votes and his opponent, Corazon Aquino, 9,291,716.

President Reagan said that election fraud and violence carried out primarily by supporters of president Ferdinand Marcos had “called into question the ballot count declaring hi a winner.

President Ferdinand Marcos’ international isolation intensifies as ambassadors from Western Europe indicate that they plan to boycott his inaugural next week and said they expect the United States will too.

The Philippine peso takes its biggest plunge in 15 years (10.3%) as top businessmen quit as presidential advisers. Two pro-Marcos banks report runs and stock prices of the country’s biggest manufactures fall in the aftermath of President Marcos’ disputed election victory.

Plunging oil prices drive inflation at the wholesale level down .7% in January, the biggest one-month decline in three years.

The oldest man in the world has died of heart failure at the age of 120. His name was Shigechio Izumi of Japan.

Medical news – February 15, 1986

Johnson & Johnson announces that it no longer will produce or sell Tylenol capsules – or any other over-the-counter medicine in capsule form – because it cannot guarantee the products’ safety.

Sports news – February 15, 1986

Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser becomes the first baseball player this season to be awarded a $1 million salary by an arbitrator. The Dodgers had offered him $600,000. Meantime Fernando Valenzuela signs a three-year $5.5 million contract with the Dodgers.

Mike Tyson drops Jesse Ferguson in the fifth round of a heavyweight fight at Troy, NY.

Entertainment/Celebrity/Music news – February 15, 1986

Seen on television – an anti-smoking commercial made by the late Yul Brynner. “Now that I’m gone – I tell you, don’t smoke, whatever you do. Just don’t smoke.” Brynner fought lung cancer for several years and often told interviewers that he wanted to leaven an anti-smoking campaign as his legacy.

Singer Dionne Warwick files a $30 million libel suit against the Globe tabloid for a story claiming a jawbone disease is destroying her face. She says she “does not suffer from any such disease.”

More than $92 million has been collected from last summer’s global Live Aid concert telecasts and the British charity single by Band Aid that inspired the event.

Passing – Dick James (65) (Feb. 1) who made a fortune off of the songs of Lennon-McCartney after setting up the publishing firm Northern Songs to handle their music. He followed up by signing the then unknown songwriting duo of Elton John and Bernie Taupin in 1967 and the start of a second fortune for his company.

Radio news – February 15, 1986

Doubleday Broadcasting is selling its last three radio stations – WHN, WAPP and WAVA. Last year, Doubleday reached an agreement to sell four if its outlets – WLLZ-Detroit, KDWB-AM/FM Minneapolis and KPKE Denver to Sillerman Communications. Gary Stevens, former Doubleday broadcasting president, is handling the brokering.

Radio programming consultant Bobby Hatrick, who ironically worked with some of the Doubleday stations, is murdered in his St. Louis apartment. Authorities believe it’s homosexual related.

Tommy Edwards, who left WLS-AM/FM after 14 years, is back – and is program director of WKQX-FM (Q-101) in Chicago.

Howard Stern moves to mornings from afternoons at WXRK New York. Stern brings sidekick Robyn Quivers and Steve Chaconis joins the crew from Washington DC for sports. Jay Thomas was dropped from WXRK mornings recently. Meg Griffin segues from middays to the afternoon shift and DJ Steve Jones as been let go. Stern’s salary is reported to be $1 million a year.

Jeff Wyatt, the program director of WUSL (power 99) in Philadelphia, is now doing the same at KPWR Los Angeles. Also in LA – KHJ-AM is dropping its “Car Radio” and changing calls to KRTH-AM with “Smoking Oldies.”

Washington –WWDC-FM morning jock Doug Tracht (aka the Greaseman) gets in trouble for suggesting on his show that the Martin Luther King Jr. birthday/holiday was cause for a vacation day, then killing “four more” would result in getting the rest of the week off.

Television news – February 15, 1986

CBS says “West 57th” newsmagazine series will return to its primetime schedule the week of April 21, after the regular season of “60 Minutes” ends. Premiering last August, it had a 6-week tryout and got low-average ratings.

HBO unveils plans to test its third national pay channel, “Festival.” HBO hopes the channel will appeal to viewers who earlier have opted not to subscribe to cable TV or subscribe to only basic cable and not pay-TV channels. “Festival” will feature classic older movies, critically acclaimed current releases, popular foreign films and some original entertainment programs. HBO currently has about 15 million paying subscribers and sister Cinemax has about 4 million.